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1. Introduction to Extreme Stress and NDEs
Extreme stress, whether physical, emotional, or psychological, has been identified as a significant trigger for near-death experiences (NDEs). While many NDEs are associated with life-threatening situations such as cardiac arrest or severe trauma, individuals undergoing intense stress or crises—without being physically near death—can also report experiences that share key elements with NDEs. These experiences often include sensations of leaving the body, encountering a tunnel of light, meeting spiritual beings, or having profound insights about life and death.
Researchers suggest that the mind and body’s response to overwhelming stress can produce altered states of consciousness that mirror those described in traditional NDEs. The brain, when pushed to its limits by stress, may activate defense mechanisms that induce transcendental experiences as a means of coping with or escaping extreme danger or emotional turmoil. These experiences, while not resulting from an actual near-death scenario, are nonetheless deeply transformative and often leave individuals with a renewed perspective on life.
Understanding how extreme stress can trigger NDE-like experiences highlights the complex relationship between consciousness, trauma, and the brain’s ability to produce profound spiritual or mystical states, even in the absence of physical danger.
The following testimony comes from a woman named Melanie submitted to Kevin Williams by email and in her own words.
2. Melanie’s NDE
At age eleven, I was booked into hospital for a tonsillectomy. As a result of either negligence (a massive dose of the anesthetic was administered by mistake) or the hospital’s version – she was allergic to the anesthetic (scholine or curare), I had a cardiac arrest on the operating table and was pronounced clinically dead. My hospital records show that I was clinically dead for four minutes. I was in a coma for four days in the ICU. When I awoke I had no memory of what had happened.
For fifteen years, I wore an “Allergic to Scholine and Curare” pendant around my neck, which turned out to be untrue, because when I had my son (when I was 26), much testing was done and I was not allergic to these anesthetics. The new hospital claimed that you can not grow out of an allergy for which the reaction is a cardiac arrest (big mystery – hey?).
One day when I was at home and under “extreme” stress, where I felt that my head was going to explode. I lay down on my bed and started to do some muscle relaxing techniques in order to calm down. I was fully awake. After a short while, I could no longer physically feel my body (any part of it, including my head). I felt like I was floating, that I was outside of my body. I had my eyes closed. Then suddenly this bright light was in front of me. It was huge, bright white light, but it did not hurt to look at. In fact it was restful to look at. It engulfed me with calmness and love and yet it did not touch me. I just looked at it for a while.
I then ‘came back’ to reality. I opened my eyes and bolted upright. I knew without any doubt that:
(1) The bright light was God
(2) I remembered my NDE from when I was eleven years old. To this day, I KNOW that this is what it was. I know that the two experiences were one and the same.
What impact has this had on my life? Much. But I have been surrounded with extremely stressful situations (especially in the last five years) since that time. Most people have said to me that they would have not been able to cope. Yet, I seem to be able to cope with anything/everything, because I feel that light is inside of me, protecting me from harm, and coping with me. I have this feeling of fearlessness. I certainly have no fear of death.
I believe that there is one God – who is the light of love. I believe the light could be the Christian God, the Muslim God, the Hindu God, the Jewish God, the Buddhist God and I believe it does not matter. I also have a strong faith in reincarnation and that it is written in all faiths.
